It’s led to some speculation as to whether the PlayStation 3 is capable of much more, but Killzone 3 Game Developers, Guerrilla Games, think there is a lot more to come from the Sony console.

“At the end of every project, we say, ‘we’ve maxed it out.’ I made that mistake at the end of Killzone 2,” Guerrilla Games Co-Founder Hermen Hulst told IndustryGamers. “We felt that we’d pushed it absolutely to the max. We now know from experience there’s always more mileage in the tech. You can always find new techniques.”

Hulst also mentioned that Guerrilla Games work with other Sony in-house developers – including LittleBigPlanet 2 Game Developers Media Molecule – to help push each other along, while each studio also produces their own tech.

“The guys that created LittleBigPlanet, I don’t think they would have been able to create a game that looks as great on someone else’s tech and that’s the same with us” said Hulst

“For example, in Killzone 2, we introduced anti-aliasing to get rid of the jagged edges. We’re using that, but an improved version that is much more efficient, so we actually leave space for more detail, bigger environments and more polygons. Compared to Killzone 2, Killzone 3’s polygon count is three times as high, so we’ve been able to find new space, probably averaging out to 40 percent.”

“We’ve had one dedicated programmer on it and a number of designers that attend play test sessions and process the feedback. 3-D is here to stay. It’s like going from mono to stereo sound. You don’t necessarily change the tune or the lyrics, but still the effect can have a profound impact, and from a tech perspective, it’s not that expensive to put into a TV.”

So, along with some information about how a large Game Development studio works, what can Train2Game students take away from Hulst’s comments? Well, it’s that being creative is very important in the games industry and this creativity can help the PlayStation 3 – and other games consoles – stay current for a few years yet!

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Hulst’s comments about Game Development? Do you believe being creative with technology is the future of making video games look even better? Or are you now already waiting for the PlayStation 4?

Perhaps it’s the first step towards a current Train2Game student being able to develop motion control based games for the PC in future. In any case, Microsoft will be releasing Software Development Kits that’ll enable Kinect to be modified via PC.

The intent of releasing a “starter kit” for application developers is to make it easier for academic research and enthusiast communities to create different experiences using the Kinect technology.

The starter kit will give academic researchers and enthusiasts access to deep Kinect system capabilities such as audio, system APIs, and direct control of the sensor. The Kinect Development tools will be released in the Spring, but there is no word on a commercial version as of yet.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Kinect development tools being released for the PC? Do you think it’ll lead to revolutionary new ways to play games? Or do you believe that there’s no need to develop motion control for the PC?

Some Train2Game forum users can’t seem to get enough of Minecraft, but they’ll be ale to get an even bigger fix by playing it on the iPhone and iPad later this year.

The port is being developed by Aron Neiminen, a new recruit to the Mojang team, and will be available some time later this year. Markus ‘Notch’ Persson – who Train2Game students have the chance to question– said the iOS Minecraft won’t get all of the updates the original version receives but will be given those that “make sense” for the touchscreen devices.

He’s a veteran Game Designer that is well known by Train2Game forum users, and now he’s set to receive the prestigious BAFTA Fellowship Award. Peter Molyneux will be presented with the prize at the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards.

The Academy Fellowship is awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image. Last year the fellowship for the video games industry was awarded to Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto.

“I remember back in 1967 watching the first BAFTA awards on television with my family and seeing them being so excited about those accolades.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would be possible for me to accept one of the greatest honours the entertainment industry has to offer.

My first thought on learning that I was awarded an Academy Fellowship was that to be in the company of some of the greatest talents the entertainment industry has ever seen is truly humbling and secondly that this is an award not just for myself, but for all the people I’ve ever worked with”.

Molyneux is the latest in a prestigious line of Fellowship award winners, which includes Will Wright and Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. Train2Game students may dream of following in their footsteps in the future.

Train2Game blog readers will know Molyneux not only as the man to arguably created the ‘God Genre’ with Populous, but is also the brains behind titles including Theme Park, Dungeon Keeper and the Fable series.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Peter Molyneux being awarded a BAFTA Fellowship? Do you believe it’s good for the future of the games industry as a whole? And have you voted for your GAME Award of 2010 preference yet?

The UK’s top selling game of 2010 climbs back up to No.1 in its 15th week in the UKIE Chart, with help likely coming from retail discounting lowering the price of Call of Duty: Black Ops to under £30. It marks the titles’ eighth week at No.1, matching that of its predecessor Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The 2009 title however, achieved the 8 No.1’s in as many consecutive weeks.

The revival of Call of Duty: Black Ops prevents Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds taking top spot in its first week on sale. You can read more about the latest title from Capcom on the Thoughts of Train2Game blog.

Just Dance 2 moves up one place to retake No.6, while another Ubisoft title -Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – drops two to No. 7. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem drops two to No.8, while two non-movers – Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Collection and LittleBigPlanet 2 complete the top ten.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Call of Duty: Black Ops re-taking No.1? Do you think Marvel vs. Capcom 3 deserved to take the top spot? And with so many releases next week, are you willing to predict if any of them will take No. 1?

Train2Game students are aware of the growing popularity, but that doesn’t mean hardcore games are going to go away.

That’s according to former Civilization II Lead Designer and Frontierville creator Brian Reynolds.

He doesn’t buy the idea that some gamers’ have that social media games are a bad thing, but rather he sees another change in the forever evolving games industry.

“I don’t think that traditional hardcore games are going to go away. I think they are going to keep making those. But it’s a consolidated industry and now there are only these several gigantic franchises,” he told Kotaku.

“I wouldn’t start a triple-A studio these days. Ten years ago, it almost felt like when we started Big Huge, ‘Wow, good thing we did it then because we never could have done it after that because the door was closing.’”

He also argues that he’s still using the same skills he used to produce other games, are being used to create the likes of Frontierville, and that he finds it to be fun.

“But it turns out that the skills we have are really valuable in social games and it’s actually really fun to design those games. First of all, I’m working on the forefront of a new thing. Second of all, I’m reaching (millions), tens of (millions) of players I could never have reached before.

And third, I really need my skills. It’s harder to design these games. We do the same things we did with strategy games: Design simple systems that interact in complex ways, but they have to be so much more accessible then they used to.”

It also seems that game developers have noticed the change and are looking to join in the production of social media games.

“I saw a big change in their attitude this year when FrontierVille came out, when CityVille came out,” he said. “I suddenly started getting letters from folks that said they wanted to work at Zynga.” He added.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Reynolds comments? Do you agree that he’s obviously right when it comes to hardcore games? Are you surprised to see the developer of a classic game now working on a casual one?

UPDATE: Valve has told Eurogamer that Portal 2 won’t support PlayStation Move, giving a statement to Eurogamer which read: this quote was ‘lost in translation’ – Portal 2 does not include support for Sony’s motion controller.”

The report comes from the German PlayStation Blog (and translated by Eurogamer) and it’s an excellent example of the innovative Game Design that Train2Game students may wish to implement in future.

Valve writer Chet Faliszek said it could be considered ‘compensation’ for PlayStation 3 owners not getting Left 4 Dead. He also hints at Valve’s strive for perfection when it comes to Game Design.

“We made a mistake back then and gave the Orange Box console versions to an external team. They did a good job, but didn’t quite achieve the same quality level that we have at Valve. Now everything happens in-house, we created a special console department just for that.”

“So the move to the PlayStation 3 comes late – we’re sorry for that. As a small compensation we have PS3-exclusive cloud saving, a free code for PC and complete PlayStation Move support.

“Look at it as a compensation for Left 4 Dead.”

The Valve Game Designer added: “Move is also a completely new experience for us, thus the system isn’t fully integrated yet.”

So Train2Game, do you think being PlayStation Move compatible is good for Portal? Will this innovation encourage you to buy the PlayStation 3 version? What other games would you like to see Move innovations in? And do you want to develop for motion controls in future?

The Train2Game blog recently spoke to Game Development student Mykolas Mankevicius (Also known as neophen on the Train2Game forum) You can listen to the interview here on Audioboo, or on the Thoughts of Train2Game blog. You can also read the interview via the Scribd document below!

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 proved to be popular on the Train2Game forum, but EA believe Battlefield 3 could be even more popular. The publisher believes Battlefield 3 will be the best game released this year, but also admits it isn’t the current market leader.

“I’ve made no excuse for the reality that I want market leadership in the first-person shooter business.” EA CEO John Riccitiello said while speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference

“In many ways I feel that we created the first mass market first-person shooter with Medal of Honor and unfortunately with the transition to the PS3 era we lost that. We’re after it now.”

“There’s a great thing about an annual franchise, whether it’s us or our competition; when you’ve got that annual franchise it’s a meal ticket, it can generate a great deal of income.

“One of the problems with an annual franchise is you don’t take the time to reengineer the underlying codebase so that it’s as ‘next-generation’ as it can be,” he added.

“We think there’s a window of opportunity here. We’ve been investing for three years to build Battlefield 3. I think it will stand up as the best product in the industry this year… and we’re going dead at ’em.”

Battlefield 3 is scheduled for release towards the end of the year and will feature a new engine and 64 person multiplayer on PC while consoles will support up to 24 players.

So Train2Game, do you think EA can make Battlefield 3 the best game of 2011? Will it be better than the next Call of Duty? Or do you believe that the best game of the year won’t be a first person shooter?

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